


ale

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Chapter and Verse (Varric Tethras x Min Hawke) [6]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Dragon Age II - Act 1, F/M, Slow Build, The Hanged Man (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 18:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16749091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: The Deep Roads didn't go as planned.  Hawke and Varric discuss what happened to their siblings.





	ale

Min Hawke stared at the backs of her hands, laying flat against the wooden table.  Her fingers trembled.  She wished they’d stop doing that.

She tried to take deep breaths.  Tried to listen to the sound of the terrible bard plucking away in the corner of the Hanged Man.  Tried to tell herself Bethany was going to be all right, really, she was going to be fine –

The chair beside her scraped against the floor.  “Anyone sitting here?” asked Varric.  He put down two pints of ale near her outstretched hands.

She lifted her head and gazed at him.  For once, there was no hint of a joke in the lines around his eyes.  She frowned at the fading bruise on his cheek, purple against his normal ruddiness.  Anders’ healing magic never worked quite as well on Varric as on the rest of them.  Varric never complained, though.

“No, you’re in luck. Pull up a chair,” she said.

“You still want to talk to me,” said Varric, surprised, his eyebrows rising.  “You don’t have to, you know.”

“What are you on about?”

Varric settled into his chair, curling his hands around one of the pints.  Some of the foam in his glass sank and collapsed in on itself.  He took a sip.

The name came out of his mouth slowly, jaggedly.  “Bartrand.”  

_Oh._   That.  She realized what he meant.  Saw Bartrand’s grinning face as he closed the door, trapping them in the Deep Roads.  Remembered the way he’d…  _laughed_ , the way it echoed off the stone.  Her lips pressed into a narrow, fierce line.

“You are not your brother’s keeper, Varric.  Bartrand’s an arsehole, and that’s on him.”

“Come on, Hawke,” Varric said, his tone almost pleading.  “If I’d realized what a fucking  _snake_  he was, I’d have never pulled you into this mess.  And Sunshine wouldn’t have –”

“Bethany’s fine,” said Hawke stubbornly.  “She’s with the Wardens.  They’ll protect her.  Keep her from getting sick.”

“She didn’t look fine–”  Varric shook his head, holding his hands out.  “Okay.  Say you’re right.  Bethany becomes a hero in the Wardens.  She loves it.  Doesn’t matter that Blondie hated it; shit, maybe it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her!  But she’s still not  _here_ , Hawke, and that’s my fault.  I’m sorry.”

Hawke raised her ale and took a long drink.  It was one of the Hanged Man’s better vintages, which admittedly wasn’t saying much.  A brown ale, nutty.  Like something you might drink in Ferelden.  Varric might have chosen it particularly for that reason, she realized.

“Are all dwarves this eager to blame themselves?” she asked, taking another drink.

“Hawke.  You should know by now I’m not a very good dwarf.”

“There is that,” she agreed.

He was quiet for a moment.  “So how are you?”

“Trying to drown myself in denial,” said Hawke.  “It isn’t working terribly well.  Whenever I think I’ve managed it, I hear Mum… she can’t stop crying.”  She pursed her lips, fighting the stinging sensation in her eyes.  “I still can’t believe Carver’s gone.  This feels like we’ve lost both the twins now.  And no matter how much I try to tell myself the Wardens are the answer… she’s still gone, isn’t she?  Oh,  _shit._ ”  She scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing tears onto her cheeks.  “I told myself I wasn’t going to think like that –”

Varric reached out, leaving a solid hand on her shoulder.  She leaned against him.  He gave her shoulder a squeeze before resting his hand back on the table.

“Thanks,” she said thickly.  “You’re the first – I mean, I haven’t really talked about it with the others.  I don’t know what to say.  I don’t think they do, either.  I mean, what  _do_  you say?  _My condolences on your sister almost becoming a Darkspawn!  How’s the Warden life treating her?_  It simply doesn’t sound good, no matter how you frame it.”

“Why do you think I brought ale?” said Varric.  “This shit is shitty, Hawke, and that’s the truth of it.”

“Strong words, coming from a liar.”

“Even the best of us tell the truth sometimes.”

She chuckled.  “Thanks, Varric.”

“For what?” he asked, tilting his head to gaze up at her.

“For the ale.  For the talk.  For the company.  I don’t know, take your pick.”  She smiled down at him, meeting his warm eyes, and felt a bit – just a bit – better.


End file.
